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Dead Girls
Infused with eroticism, poignancy, and insight that cuts to the bone, these stories lead us into a tipping world of emotional wagers, loss and discovery, power and impulse. A marriage is tested as a mother struggles to cope with the disappearance of her prostitute daughter. Two angry women in a minivan act out their frustrations as they rampage through the night. A pill-dependent nurse juggles neuroses, infatuation, and exhaustion while supervising a high school dance-a-thon. A quiet tattoo artist takes in a homeless woman, and stumbles upon the true nature of beauty, jealousy, and love.
Written in taut, unflinching prose, these stories are edgy and dark, sharply observed and uniquely imagined. As provocative as it is brilliant, Dead Girls introduces Nancy Lee as an astonishing and original new literary talent.
Written in taut, unflinching prose, these stories are edgy and dark, sharply observed and uniquely imagined. As provocative as it is brilliant, Dead Girls introduces Nancy Lee as an astonishing and original new literary talent.
296 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2002
10 people are currently reading
1685 people want to read
About the author
Nancy Lee
3 books45 followersHailed by Globe and Mail as “a masterwork of revelation,” Nancy Lee’s collection of short stories, Dead Girls, (McClelland & Stewart 2002) was named a best book of 2002 by the Globe and Mail, Toronto Star and Vancouver Sun, and Book of the Year by NOW Magazine. Winner of the 2003 VanCity Book Prize, Dead Girls has been published in the UK, Germany, Italy, France, Holland and Spain.
Nancy Lee is the recipient of numerous awards, including a Gabriel Award for Radio and a National Magazine Award. An Adjunct Professor in Creative Writing at the University of British Columbia, Nancy was selected as the first Canadian Writer-in-Residence at the prestigious University of East Anglia Writing Program in the UK. She most recently served as Writer-in-Residence for the city of Vincennes, France in 2011. Her novel, The Age, will be published by McClelland & Stewart in 2013.
She lives in Richmond, BC with her husband, the author, John Vigna.
Nancy Lee is the recipient of numerous awards, including a Gabriel Award for Radio and a National Magazine Award. An Adjunct Professor in Creative Writing at the University of British Columbia, Nancy was selected as the first Canadian Writer-in-Residence at the prestigious University of East Anglia Writing Program in the UK. She most recently served as Writer-in-Residence for the city of Vincennes, France in 2011. Her novel, The Age, will be published by McClelland & Stewart in 2013.
She lives in Richmond, BC with her husband, the author, John Vigna.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 39 reviews
September 9, 2009
Don’t let the title Dead Girls mislead you. Yes, there are dead girls here – well, missing and presumed dead, anyway – but these stories are full of life, shining with brilliance, dancing with your emotions. Some stories are deep, dark, disturbing; others are bold, bracing, beautiful – yet each is infused with compassion, tenderness, and a deep awareness of what it is to be human.
I read Dead Girls for the first time about six years ago. Back then, I was mostly reading novels, very few short stories; but even so, I recognized that what I was reading was very special: in the same league as Alice Munro, which is saying a lot.
I especially liked the second story, “Sally, in Parts”, enough to do a little investigating. I already knew that Dead Girls was inspired by The BC Missing Women Investigation into the disappearance of sixty women from Vancouver's Downtown Eastside from the early 1980's through to 2002, many of whom were drug-addicts or prostitutes. What I didn’t know was that Nancy Lee came up with this theme for her collection of stories well before the authorities would acknowledge there was anything linking the disappearances. [For current “common knowledge” see: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_P... .]
The eight stories in Dead Girls are set in Vancouver, BC, and in reverse chronological order. In the first, “Associated Press”, a second-person narrative, the killer is a dentist named Coombs. He pleads guilty at the trial. In the final story, “Sisters”, Grace searches for her sister Nita, who has disappeared; we assume she’s a victim. Powerful stuff, but what comes in between is what makes that final story even more poignant – because in some stories, Coombs is barely mentioned. But these stories are subtly linked by the background narrative of Coombs and his arrest.
I have now read the second story, “Sally, in Parts”, three times. The story is divided into descriptions of different parts of Sally’s body; ten parts in all: “Sally’s eyes” followed by Sally’s lungs, hands, breasts, teeth, vagina, ears, lips, feet; and lastly, Sally’s bones. The story weaves through the present with her father dying and Sally delaying surgery for breast cancer; to the past using this anatomical exploration to examine Sally’s relationship with her father and how it changed as Sally grew into maturity, searching for a reconnection with her father through sexual relationships with men. It’s a challenging, courageous, but ultimately transcendental story.
"Sally, in Parts" alone is worth the price of the book; but do read all the stories, and in sequence, to better appreciate the whole.
I read Dead Girls for the first time about six years ago. Back then, I was mostly reading novels, very few short stories; but even so, I recognized that what I was reading was very special: in the same league as Alice Munro, which is saying a lot.
I especially liked the second story, “Sally, in Parts”, enough to do a little investigating. I already knew that Dead Girls was inspired by The BC Missing Women Investigation into the disappearance of sixty women from Vancouver's Downtown Eastside from the early 1980's through to 2002, many of whom were drug-addicts or prostitutes. What I didn’t know was that Nancy Lee came up with this theme for her collection of stories well before the authorities would acknowledge there was anything linking the disappearances. [For current “common knowledge” see: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_P... .]
The eight stories in Dead Girls are set in Vancouver, BC, and in reverse chronological order. In the first, “Associated Press”, a second-person narrative, the killer is a dentist named Coombs. He pleads guilty at the trial. In the final story, “Sisters”, Grace searches for her sister Nita, who has disappeared; we assume she’s a victim. Powerful stuff, but what comes in between is what makes that final story even more poignant – because in some stories, Coombs is barely mentioned. But these stories are subtly linked by the background narrative of Coombs and his arrest.
I have now read the second story, “Sally, in Parts”, three times. The story is divided into descriptions of different parts of Sally’s body; ten parts in all: “Sally’s eyes” followed by Sally’s lungs, hands, breasts, teeth, vagina, ears, lips, feet; and lastly, Sally’s bones. The story weaves through the present with her father dying and Sally delaying surgery for breast cancer; to the past using this anatomical exploration to examine Sally’s relationship with her father and how it changed as Sally grew into maturity, searching for a reconnection with her father through sexual relationships with men. It’s a challenging, courageous, but ultimately transcendental story.
"Sally, in Parts" alone is worth the price of the book; but do read all the stories, and in sequence, to better appreciate the whole.
October 10, 2018
I’m not sure if I’d rather give it 4 or 5 Stars. Definitely different. The endings to all of the stories were unfinished. Just left off with no real conclusion and I wanted to keep going in all of them. But, done that way, felt just as real and raw as the stories themselves. I found myself thinking about them after I finished. Making up my own scenarios as to what could have happened next. The one I probably didn’t enjoy the most was the Associated Press chapter. Sally, in Parts was maybe my favorite. They were all different, with the common link of the dead girls. And I liked that each story was only 30 pages long. Totally doable with so little time to read.
April 13, 2020
This sucked. I didn't like any of the stories. I knew going in that they all ended with open storylines. That didn't bother me. The stories just weren't that good. Some would start being good, then they would do a 180 and go downhill. Not what I was expecting.
April 13, 2020
I did enjoy these short stories and would recommend.
May 7, 2019
Toujours dans le cadre du challenge #maiennouvelles, ce recueil comprenant 8 nouvelles dont quelques pépites... L'auteure était présente au Festival America. Je vais aller voir ce que l'on dit de son roman !
October 30, 2018
I loved the story of “Rollie & Adele” I would of loved if the entire book was about them.
Second story I really liked was “Sisters” but it left so much out, and the end left way too many questions. It too could of been expanded on.
The serial killer dentist, who made cameo appearances throughout, would of also made for a good book.
She could of made this as a preview to full novels if she wanted to.
Second story I really liked was “Sisters” but it left so much out, and the end left way too many questions. It too could of been expanded on.
The serial killer dentist, who made cameo appearances throughout, would of also made for a good book.
She could of made this as a preview to full novels if she wanted to.
February 2, 2010
A superb set of linked stories, spoiled only by the second person pov which I have grown weary of, so early noughties (this was published in 2002), and maybe some slightly unlikely images (the washing powder ontop of the machines in one). I will do a proper review just as soon as I can find the book - I put it down somewhere in the house and now can't find it - I suspect my daughter has it. I did find 'Day' though which I will get back to next (after Winesburg, Ohio), and I will get back to this review soon too. Bit hectic at the mo...
I promised to get back to this, and I want to endorse it further - this book is a great selection of stories and I thought the linking of the serial killer story, in reverse order so that we go back from his trial to the story of one of his victims, brilliantly done. There are other binding features too - the jokes that have no punchlines, the group of skateboarders that hang around in each story. Nancy lee is great on sexual prompts and desires and fetishes (the first story has a character that likes half strangling his partner), she is a fine observer (eg the birth description in the title story: her mucuosy slide from your body... the tiny almost imperceptible sound her mouth made as it opened and closed). The exuberant East where two women move across the city in their minivan getting increasingly drunk and drugged and end up cavorting in the mud outside the state prison (inside which sits the serial killer) is a joyous piece of writing.
As I say my only problem was the second person pov but then I recently realised one of my favourite novels of the 80s was written in second person: 'The Sound of My Voice'. It can work very well, but sometimes feels like a gimmick, and you (see what I did there) wonder whether s/he or I would have served just as well.
I promised to get back to this, and I want to endorse it further - this book is a great selection of stories and I thought the linking of the serial killer story, in reverse order so that we go back from his trial to the story of one of his victims, brilliantly done. There are other binding features too - the jokes that have no punchlines, the group of skateboarders that hang around in each story. Nancy lee is great on sexual prompts and desires and fetishes (the first story has a character that likes half strangling his partner), she is a fine observer (eg the birth description in the title story: her mucuosy slide from your body... the tiny almost imperceptible sound her mouth made as it opened and closed). The exuberant East where two women move across the city in their minivan getting increasingly drunk and drugged and end up cavorting in the mud outside the state prison (inside which sits the serial killer) is a joyous piece of writing.
As I say my only problem was the second person pov but then I recently realised one of my favourite novels of the 80s was written in second person: 'The Sound of My Voice'. It can work very well, but sometimes feels like a gimmick, and you (see what I did there) wonder whether s/he or I would have served just as well.
November 8, 2019
Först tänkte jag helt förbise detta Vancouver-verk. Böcker om brutalt mördade kvinnor är verkligen inte min genre. Sedan läste jag ett par noveller och övervägde att lägga den åt sidan, p.g.a. skrämmande verklighetsbaserad seriemördar-cameo som röd tråd boken igenom, i ett "dark urban landscape". I synnerhet med denna miljö inom räckhåll kändes det för obehagligt att läsa.
Men nu är jag så glad att jag har mitt läs-ända-till-slutet-no-matter-what-ethos, för de två sista är fantastiska; den om den lite omöjliga, men rörande relationen mellan Rollie and Adele och den oändligt sorgliga Sisters.
Men nu är jag så glad att jag har mitt läs-ända-till-slutet-no-matter-what-ethos, för de två sista är fantastiska; den om den lite omöjliga, men rörande relationen mellan Rollie and Adele och den oändligt sorgliga Sisters.
May 17, 2020
Genuinely perplexed as to how and / or why Nancy Lee took a decade to follow-up this debut collection of interwoven short stories.
The stories are pretty much all situated in and around Vancouver, at a point in time when a notorious serial killer has been unearthed in a quiet suburb. This news story is felt throughout each of the little snapshots of urban female existence. There is a woman stuck in a series of dreadfully predictable relationships, a teenage girl who helps her boyfriend rob their rich pal by seducing him, two sisters both in love with the same seedy guy, a volunteer nurse at a high school disco aroused by the idea of sex with a high school boy and a young woman growing an extra tooth in the centre of her upper palate, that can only be soothed by the touch of her failing father.
Circling round all these stories like a particularly predatory manifestation of fate is the seemingly benign presence of a suburban dentist, with an unfortunate predilection for murdering prostitutes. So many of the women in the book are precariously positioned within society. They also seem to possess a rich sexual fantasy life, which many of the men around them can only hopelessly fail to enact.
Vancouver is portrayed as a city that has the capacity to destroy. A city infested by omnipresent skater kids, and perfumed by the humid heat of sexual frustration. It's a book that made me so desperately want to see it land in the lap of Jane Campion, as it is freighted with so many of the energies and concerns that make her films deeply felt and enthralling. Maybe some day, and maybe, just maybe, Nancy Lee will deliver another heady and intoxicating collection.
The stories are pretty much all situated in and around Vancouver, at a point in time when a notorious serial killer has been unearthed in a quiet suburb. This news story is felt throughout each of the little snapshots of urban female existence. There is a woman stuck in a series of dreadfully predictable relationships, a teenage girl who helps her boyfriend rob their rich pal by seducing him, two sisters both in love with the same seedy guy, a volunteer nurse at a high school disco aroused by the idea of sex with a high school boy and a young woman growing an extra tooth in the centre of her upper palate, that can only be soothed by the touch of her failing father.
Circling round all these stories like a particularly predatory manifestation of fate is the seemingly benign presence of a suburban dentist, with an unfortunate predilection for murdering prostitutes. So many of the women in the book are precariously positioned within society. They also seem to possess a rich sexual fantasy life, which many of the men around them can only hopelessly fail to enact.
Vancouver is portrayed as a city that has the capacity to destroy. A city infested by omnipresent skater kids, and perfumed by the humid heat of sexual frustration. It's a book that made me so desperately want to see it land in the lap of Jane Campion, as it is freighted with so many of the energies and concerns that make her films deeply felt and enthralling. Maybe some day, and maybe, just maybe, Nancy Lee will deliver another heady and intoxicating collection.
May 26, 2023
found on a friends shelf when they were giving books away. forgot about it and then finally picked it up months later, started reading and WOWOWOWOWOWOWOWOWOW. beautiful. scary. sad. funny. fucked up. on my list of book recco's forever.
women are fuckin everything.
10/10 would recommend. plus its short stories which is always great.
My favourite quote/ scene:
"you try to ignore the aching in your legs and shoulders. His eyes are bright and wide and wet. you feel your bottom lip touching the surface, struggle to keep your chin up. He is smiling.
'Do you love me?,' he asks.
You laugh out loud, your body contracting, your head dipping under. You come up with a mouthful of water and spit it in his face. He wipes his eyes, then reaches his hand out and grabs your arm, pulls you toward him. You expect him to force you under, to hold you thrashing and airless as punishment for your dirty play. Instead, he moves his hand to the top of your back,buoys you up, allows you to float without having to move."
women are fuckin everything.
10/10 would recommend. plus its short stories which is always great.
My favourite quote/ scene:
"you try to ignore the aching in your legs and shoulders. His eyes are bright and wide and wet. you feel your bottom lip touching the surface, struggle to keep your chin up. He is smiling.
'Do you love me?,' he asks.
You laugh out loud, your body contracting, your head dipping under. You come up with a mouthful of water and spit it in his face. He wipes his eyes, then reaches his hand out and grabs your arm, pulls you toward him. You expect him to force you under, to hold you thrashing and airless as punishment for your dirty play. Instead, he moves his hand to the top of your back,buoys you up, allows you to float without having to move."
October 19, 2018
Nancy Lee's Dead Girls was definitely a provocative narrative, with Lee's inspirations from the cases of missing women in Vancouver between 1978 and 2001 prominent throughout the collection of short stories. Her contemporary writing style, pushes the regular boundaries of creative writing and is something quite unusual. Although some stories may be uncomfortable for some readers, the way she writes about her characters brings back a sense of reality and truth in the cases of the missing women and reminds us how our society isn't all that we see.
If you're looking for something short and emotional then try out Dead Girls. It might not be a book for everyone, but if you're also looking to engage in an exploration of contemporary writing styles then this would be a good book to read.
Side Note : It was also such a privilege to have read the published works of a professor in the Creative Writing department at my university!
If you're looking for something short and emotional then try out Dead Girls. It might not be a book for everyone, but if you're also looking to engage in an exploration of contemporary writing styles then this would be a good book to read.
Side Note : It was also such a privilege to have read the published works of a professor in the Creative Writing department at my university!
December 31, 2025
wow this book was exceptional. it made me realize just how long it’s been since i read GOOD writing. writing that makes you think and isn’t spelled out for you. writing that invokes emotion and talks about difficult shit. every single one of these short stories made me FEEL something and really did make me think. love a canadian author and while there were a couple stories that made me feel icky, i kinda loved it because it brought about an emotion from very uncomfortable and realistic situations. recommended to me by my aunt and i will continue to take any of her recommendations because this was amazing.
January 2, 2025
This book consists of multiple short stories with somewhat open endings to make the reader think. The stories are beautifully written and explore aspects of women's lives and the tragedies around them.
The backdrop is set in Canadian landscape. The book, through all of the stories, tells about the missing women and children and the crimes committed against them in and around the Vancouver area.
The backdrop is set in Canadian landscape. The book, through all of the stories, tells about the missing women and children and the crimes committed against them in and around the Vancouver area.
January 13, 2021
I'm fond of short stories and enjoyed this book. These are open ended fictional accounts of the Vancouver Pig Farmer Serial Killer's victims. Interesting take on a very sad story of exploited and forgotten women.
December 17, 2021
This was the best collection of short stories I’ve ever read! All of them were so engrossing and raw and real. Also helps that they were set in Vancouver, my home for most of my life :)
August 18, 2024
closer to 2.5**
great writing, some stories more interesting than others
great writing, some stories more interesting than others
December 21, 2024
An incredibly skilled set of short stories, each of which made my heart leap or squirm. Not a one a comfortable read but I couldn’t put the book down.
February 15, 2017
Nancy Lee writes in a gritty, savoury style that sometimes left me feeling disquieted. I especially loved "Sally, in Parts" and haven't been able to get it out of my head: the image of a musky male finger stroking the inside of a girl's mouth, "a small but significant beckoning".
July 25, 2013
2007 bookcrossing journal:
This is an uncorrected bookproof I picked up in a charity shop a while ago - a collection of 8 short stories by Cardiff-born writer Nancy Lee.
The stories are quite honest and direct about people, relationships and sex. Females lead the way in all the stories here. It is beautifully written, almost dream-like here and there, but due to the subject matter, also quite melancholic. The story entitled Dead Girls, about a mother looking in the red light districts for her missing daughter, is particularly sad - the dead girls perhaps referring directly to the dead bodies in the news reports in the background, but also to the prostitutes themselves, who are really exisiting rather than living in the book.
All the stories have a dark conneciton - a serial killer in the background. He was a dentist (about says it all!) and had a lot of girls buried in his backgarden. He makes his appearence in radio reports, newspaper articles and conversations in the stories - all except the last one worryingly, in which the older sister is never found. Does this mean she was one of the victims?
This is an uncorrected bookproof I picked up in a charity shop a while ago - a collection of 8 short stories by Cardiff-born writer Nancy Lee.
The stories are quite honest and direct about people, relationships and sex. Females lead the way in all the stories here. It is beautifully written, almost dream-like here and there, but due to the subject matter, also quite melancholic. The story entitled Dead Girls, about a mother looking in the red light districts for her missing daughter, is particularly sad - the dead girls perhaps referring directly to the dead bodies in the news reports in the background, but also to the prostitutes themselves, who are really exisiting rather than living in the book.
All the stories have a dark conneciton - a serial killer in the background. He was a dentist (about says it all!) and had a lot of girls buried in his backgarden. He makes his appearence in radio reports, newspaper articles and conversations in the stories - all except the last one worryingly, in which the older sister is never found. Does this mean she was one of the victims?
September 12, 2011
I've never been much of a short-story reader, but I quite enjoyed this collection. Some were better than others, of course.
I don't know if the title of this book comes from one of the short stories called 'Dead Girls' or not, but if that's the case, then I don't think that's the short story I would name the book after. There were so many others that were better. Like the one with the teenagers, home alone in the dark. I loved that one. (can't recall the name of it). It was such a great portrayal of teens now a days, and how most friendships at that age are built up of a manipulator and a shy manipulated person. Really poignant and definitely worth the read. There was also one called 'Sally in parts' that I really enjoyed, just because of that "daddy issues" theme it had.
Anyway, I got this at a thrift store somewhere in the north, and if I hadn't found it there I would never have heard of it. But if you see it somewhere for cheap, then pick it up. It's not bad.
Still not much for short stories though.
I don't know if the title of this book comes from one of the short stories called 'Dead Girls' or not, but if that's the case, then I don't think that's the short story I would name the book after. There were so many others that were better. Like the one with the teenagers, home alone in the dark. I loved that one. (can't recall the name of it). It was such a great portrayal of teens now a days, and how most friendships at that age are built up of a manipulator and a shy manipulated person. Really poignant and definitely worth the read. There was also one called 'Sally in parts' that I really enjoyed, just because of that "daddy issues" theme it had.
Anyway, I got this at a thrift store somewhere in the north, and if I hadn't found it there I would never have heard of it. But if you see it somewhere for cheap, then pick it up. It's not bad.
Still not much for short stories though.
June 19, 2017
Canadian Lee’s debut collection of fiction. These stories are all linked by a thread of a police finding a serial killer, and are stories about men and women stumbling through life, love, relationships – not really trying to find answers because they know there are no answers it seems. Life is a series of experiences, good and bad, or so I think Lee is trying to get at. It’s a wonderful collection, a real find.
December 22, 2013
Great book of short stories by a Canadian writer. I loved it. Her writing was fresh, unpretentious and immediately engaging. Unafraid of dealing with such uncomfortable issues as prostitution, violence and sexual taboos, the stories are disturbing and bold. Woven throughout the collection is the grim fact of all those Vancouver women, "working girls", who kept disappearing for years, without much of a police investigation. Beautiful writing.
April 7, 2011
I enjoyed this book, and would definitely read it again. When I picked it up from the library, I didn't realize it was a group of short stories, but I found it very cohesive in terms of theme and the links between each story. I found the imagery vivid and the descriptions original. I wouldn't hesitate to recommend this book.
November 8, 2012
An excellent and disturbing collection. Somewhat eerily prophetic in some ways, considering what we know now about the missing women in Vancouver, but of course even when this book was being written much was rumoured and suspected about a serial killer on the loose.
However there is much more happening here than dead girls buried in backyards. A strong, beautiful and memorable collection.
However there is much more happening here than dead girls buried in backyards. A strong, beautiful and memorable collection.
Read
November 6, 2009Very intimate, meaning intimate to oneself, to ones feelings, and thoughts. Thoughts you think no one must know, should know. It scared me because it brought to the surface how similar we are as women. Great Great Read!!!
April 21, 2014
A memorably stylish and mournful collection of stories, all of which suggest the impossibility of maintaining or even holding on to happiness. It's a viewpoint you might not like or agree with, but Lee's handling of the theme in story after story is quite remarkable (especially for a debut book).
April 11, 2016
I felt like my gut was being wrenched in 5 different directions when reading Dead Girls. I found all the characters easy to like and empathize with but this only makes it harder when the stories play out.
What was most impressive was the impact of what the author did not say out loud. Fabulous.
What was most impressive was the impact of what the author did not say out loud. Fabulous.
April 11, 2007
Short stories. Been a while since I read it.
August 4, 2008
Sharp, tough stories with characters I haven't forgotten even 8 years later...
January 30, 2009
I've got a signed first edition of this book, actually! I liked the first or second short story the best.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 39 reviews